classic thing a little better to me? You might not
like it, but if I like it, I’m going to put it out.
Then it’s what can I do that’s never been done?
That’s really hard to do, that’s number two. So
those are the two motivations, it’s like taking
something classic, nodding back to it and
giving it tribute, then making it do something
I wished it would do. In a nutshell, I just keep
making my own signature pedals. That’s the
goal. Then maybe one day I can do something
that no one has ever done. I feel like I’ve only
touched that a couple times with the Colour
Box and a couple things that I’ve done.
Then in the future it’s the same thing, my only
agenda is to keep making pedals that I really
like, and help people to remember that guitar is
fun and to enjoy it. Gear is secondary, let that
be the condiment on the side, it’s not the dish. I
think that’s why I’ve gotten into the history thing
so heavily the last couple years.
[WM] Let’s get down to some of the geeky
stuff. Can you give a brief description of what
the most common pedal components are? Like
JHS Pedals Colour Box
what op amps, inductors, and bucket brigade
chips actually do?
which is a perfected amplifier. That’s when
[Josh] Any kind of guitar circuit other than the you see the DOD 250, Distortion +, and the
circuit in your guitar which is volume, tone pot, Rat happen. They’re the little chips that have
and one capacitor, every guitar pedal circuit eight legs, some of them have more legs, and
is active. The active nature of a guitar pedal you see them in movies with lights all over
means it’s amplifying your guitar. It needs a them and stuff. The Tube Screamer happens
battery or power plugged into it. The voltage late 70s, and typically a Tube Screamer has a
of a battery or a power supply is giving you 4558 chip set. You can Google that and see
the ability to amplify the guitar. Your guitar pots a billion pictures of it. You have to amplify a
don’t amplify anything, they’re attenuating it pedal, so the biggest and most important part
really, and they’re backing it off. is how you are amplifying it, and that’s op-amps
and transistors.
A pedal is active, and an active thing needs an
JRC4558
amplifier. Transistors were first, they came after Next you have resistors, they resist, that’s the tube. So with pedals you have transistors literally what you do. If you take a resistor and A capacitor is basically a bucket, and your
first. Transistors date back for us, as pedal cut a guitar cable and stick it in a one meg signal is like water and you’re just filling up
makers and people like you, to the Fuzz. resistor (you know a big huge resistor with big the bucket. Capacitors are kind of fascinating
Somebody took the transistor and broke the value) and put it in between the tips of your and in a way there’s a lot to talk about there,
circuit around it and made a Fuzz, they broke guitar cable… your guitar will be quieter and but they’re basically a way to deal with what’s
the sound. From there in the 70s, somebody muddier, it’ll resist the signal. That’s how simple called ‘time constants’, or just dealing with
invents the op-amp, or operational amplifier that is. signal. Holding signal for a certain amount of
May 2019
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